Wednesday, December 28, 2011

GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 28: The Boston Bruins celebrate around Dennis Seidenberg #44 after he scored the game winning goal in overtime against the Phoenix Coyotes during the NHL game at Jobing.com Arena on December 28, 2011 in Glendale, Arizona. The Bruins defeated the Coyotes 2-1 in overtime. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The Christmas break is over and the Bruins played in Phoenix tonight against the Coyotes and extended their winning streak to 7 games with an overtime win. Surprising to see Tuukka Rask get the nod tonight in net for the Bruins but he's been playing great as Tim Thomas has, so no downgrade there.

In the first period, David Krejci scored his 7th goal of the season only 47 seconds into the game, to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Later in the period, Bruins killer Ray Whitney scored to tie the game 1-1.

Also in the first period was classic Bruins hockey, sticking up for teammates. Raffi Torres, you may remember he played for the Vancouver Canucks last year, threw an elbow at Andrew Ference's head as they raced for the puck in the Bruins d-zone. Adam McQuaid came right in instigating a fight with Torres and landed some punches that left Torres bleeding above his left eye. You may also remember last year in the playoffs McQuaid and Torres met up a few times with Torres throwing some big checks at McQuaid and McQuaid challenging him a few times but Torres wanted nothing to do with him then.

Adam McQuaid vs Raffi Torres

Click picture to view larger image.
Phoenix Coyotes' Raffi Torres (37) skates to the bench after a fight with Boston Bruins' Adam McQuaid during the first period in an NHL hockey game on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

In the second period, no scoring happened.

In the third period, no scoring happened but the Coyotes had a strong ending of the period.

In overtime, a Dennis Seidenberg shot found it's way into the net to win the game 2-1 for the Bruins. On the replays it looked like Chris Kelly tipped the puck past Coyotes goalie Jason LaBarbera but the official score has Seidenberg with the goal. If it stands as Seidenberg's goal, it will be his 2nd goal of the season.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 29-22 and faceoff wins 28-19. The Coyotes led the game in hits 29-27 and blocked shots 20-13.

The Coyotes went 0-for-1 on the power-play while the Bruins had zero power-plays.

Tuukka Rask played in net for the Bruins and made 21 saves on 22 shots. Rask is now 8-4-1 with a 1.61 GAA and a 94.5 save percentage this season.

Rich Peverley was again out of the lineup, but Claude Julien has said that Peverley is on track to return against the Dallas Stars.

Joe Corvo led the Bruins in shots with 5.

Milan Lucic led the Bruins in hits with 5.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 24-9-1 this season with 49 points. The Bruins are in 1st place in the Northeast Division and 1st place in the Eastern Conference (2nd place in the entire NHL, one point behind the Chicago Blackhawks). The Bruins next game is on Saturday at the Dallas Stars at 8pm ET. Will this upcoming game be another fight filled game or does that only happen in Boston when these two teams meet? :) We'll also get to see old friend Michael Ryder.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Boston Bruins' Brad Marchand (63) celebrates with Zdeno Chara (33) after completing a hat trick in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers in Boston, Friday, Dec. 23, 2011. The Bruins won 8-0. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Wow what a dominating game the Bruins had tonight against the Florida Panthers. The Panthers played last night and looked tired as the Bruins looked like they had control for just about the entire game. Tuukka Rask played in net and earned his 2nd shutout of the season and Brad Marchand scored his 1st career NHL hat trick in the win. Jose Theodore started the game in net for Florida, but he did not have another great game against the Bruins as he did a few weeks ago.

In the first period, Brad Marchand scored his 13th goal of the season, a shorthanded goal, to make it 1-0. Later, Milan Lucic scored his 12th goal of the season, a power-play goal, making it 2-0 Bruins. On the next faceoff, Krys Barch and Shawn Thornton dropped the gloves and had a good short fight. Thornton looked to get more punches in on Barch before Thornton lost his balance and got twisted around as he went down to the ice. Less than five minutes later, Benoit Pouliot scored Bruins goal of the year so far as he got by a Panthers defenseman and slid the puck past Jose Theodore. That was Pouliot's 7th goal of the season. 31 seconds later Dennis Seidenberg scored his 1st goal of the season making it 4-0 Bruins.

Benoit Pouliot's sick goal vs Panthers

In the second period, the Panthers had Scott Clemmensen come in and play net for the rest of the game. Gregory Campbell scored his 3rd goal of the season as he was able to get a good wrist shot off from the slot area. Later in the period, Patrice Bergeron got credit for his 7th goal of the season, a power-play goal, as his pass went off a Panthers skate and into the net, making it 6-0.

In the third period, Brad Marchand scored his 2nd goal of the game, his 14th goal of the season. Later in the period, Brad Marchand scored his 3rd goal of the game, getting his 1st NHL career hat trick. That was Marchand's 15th goal of the season.

BOSTON, MA - DECEMBER 23: Brad Marchand #63 of the Boston Bruins after the game he scored his first career hat trick against the Florida Panthers at the TD Garden on December 23, 2011 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 35-30 and faceoff wins 35-20. The Panthers led the game in hits 18-14 and blocked shots 16-13.

The Bruins went 2-for-5 on the power-play while the Panthers went 0-for-2.

Tuukka Rask played in net for Boston and stopped all 30 shots he faced to get his 2nd shutout of the season. Rask is now 7-4-1 with a 1.66 GAA and a .944 save percentage. Those are just amazing numbers.

Brad Marchand had a 5-point game, with 3 goals and 2 assists. He was +5 with 3 shots (all goals) and he only had 12:48 of ice time, which was the second-lowest on the team after Shawn Thornton's 11:23 of ice time.

Patrice Bergeron had 1 goal and 2 assists, was +2 and had 5 shots. He also went 10-2 in the faceoff circle.

Zdeno Chara had 2 assists and was +4.

Tyler Seguin had 2 assists and was +4 and had 3 shots.

Dennis Seidenberg had 1 goal and 1 assist, was +2 and had 2 shots.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 23-9-1 with 47 points, which is 1st in the Northeast Division and 1st in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins next game is next Wednesday, December 28th at the Phoenix Coyotes, at 9pm ET.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

As Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price looks on, Boston Bruins' Brad Marchand skates back to the bench after scoring during the third period of Boston's 3-2 win in an NHL hockey game in Boston Monday, Dec. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

With Milan Lucic out of the lineup for the Bruins in a game where his physicality, along with his 15 points in 26 career season games against Montreal, is always good to have around, the Bruins were able to hold off Montreal and win 3-2 in a tight game where both goalies came up big for their teams.

In the first period, Benoit Pouliot scored his 6th goal of the season. A little over a minute later, Bruins killer Tomas Plekanec scored to tie the game.

In the second period, David Krejci scored his 6th goal of the season as an Andrew Ference shot/pass went off of Krejci's skate and into the net.

In the third period, Brad Marchand scored his 12th goal of the season on a great keep in at the blue line by Patrice Bergeron, then Tyler Seguin with a sweet aerial pass to Marchand who held onto the puck and went to the backhand for the game-winning goal. Later, another Bruins killer, Erik Cole, scored with 1:14 left in the game to make it 3-2. But the Bruins held on for a 3-2 win.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in faceoff wins 28-24 and hits 26-24. Montreal led the game in shots 35-31 and blocked shots 13-11.

The Bruins went 0-for-3 on the power-play while Montreal went 0-for-2.

Tim Thomas made 33 saves on 35 shots. He is now 16-5-0 with a 1.84 GAA and a .943 save percentage this season.

Zdeno Chara led the Bruins in shots with 6. Chara also led the Bruins in ice time with 26:05.

Dennis Seidenberg and Johnny Boychuk both had 3 blocked shots apiece to lead the Bruins.

Nathan Horton and Shawn Thornton led the Bruins in hits with 3 apiece.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 22-9-1 with 45 points, which is first in the Northeast Division and first in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins next game is on Friday hosting the Florida Panthers at 7pm ET. We may see a Shawn Thornton-Krys Barch rematch in that one.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Bruins Milan Lucic has been suspended for 1 game for his boarding major on Satutday against the Flyers Zac Rinaldo. If you haven't seen the hit yet, watch it below.

Milan Lucic boards Zac Rinaldo

Here is the video of Brendan Shanahan and his explanation of the Lucic suspension.

"In spite of the fact that Lucic sees Rinaldo’s numbers in proximity to the boards, Lucic delivers a dangerous check from behind," Shanahan said in a video clip on the web site. "Rinaldo makes no sudden movements just prior to or simultaneous with the hit that contributes to making this an illegal check. Therefore, the onus is on Lucic to avoid this hit completely or, at the very least, minimize it to a greater degree."

"Instead, Lucic follows through with his check, driving Rinaldo high and hard into the glass. While this hit is not particularly egregious, it is illegal. However, the overriding factor in elevating this check from behind from a penalty on the ice to a suspension is his history of similar infractions, warnings and a fine. We've taken into account that Rinaldo suffered no apparent injury as a result of this hit."Source

You can see in the video that Rinaldo turns at the last second for the hit to be shoulder-on-shoulder. If Rinaldo did not turn then it would have been a hit from behind. But we all know what this suspension is for. This is a make-up suspension for the non-suspension Lucic got for his collision with Sabres Ryan Miller. Shanahan received so much hate on him after the non-suspension that he probably felt hey I'll suspend him this time and hope to quiet down those Buffalo fans.

Even Flyers Zac Rinaldo, you know the guy who got hit, says it was a shoulder-to-shoulder hit.

"It's hockey, you hit and go into the boards, I don't think it was dirty at all," Rinaldo said. "Shoulder-to-shoulder and just momentum. He's big guy, maybe double my weight. His momentum carried him into the boards awkwardly. I don't think it was dirty at all."

He added: "Should–to-shoulder, that's fine, that's cool. I don't mind it at all."Source

Props to Rinaldo for being honest and you know not saying he has a concussion or some type of injury just to get Lucic suspended.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 17: Zdeno Chara #33 of the Boston Bruins fights Jody Shelley #45 of the Philadelphia Flyers during their game on December 17, 2011 at The Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Bruins captain Zdeno Chara returned to the lineup this afternoon to take on the Flyers and maybe it gave the Bruins a boost as the Bruins came out flying. The Bruins got two goals in less than three minutes into the game to put the Flyers down and the Flyers couldn't get it together. When they did Tim Thomas and the Bruins defense was there to stop them.

In the first period, Benoit Pouliot scored his 5th goal of the season only 27 seconds into the game. Zdeno Chara and Jody Shelley dropped the gloves off a Bruins-defensive zone after some talking and had a quick fight with both guys not landing much. Only 2:23 after the first goal, Daniel Paille scored his 6th goal of the season to make it 2-0. Later in the period, Zdeno Chara scored his 7th goal of the season, a power-play goal to make it 3-0. The Bruins would score another power-play goal in the period, as Milan Lucic scored his 11th goal of the season to make it 4-0. Shortly after the Lucic goal, Scott Hartnell took a run at Brad Marchand who ducked the open ice hit. Johnny Boychuk got called for instigating a fight with Hartnell.

Zdeno Chara vs Jody Shelley

In the second period, Nathan Horton scored his 9th goal of the season, a power-play goal, to make it 5-0. In the period Lucic got called for a hit from behind major and game misconduct. I didn't agree that it was a hit from behind and neither did Lucic after the game. Zac Rinaldo, the guy who Lucic hit, dropped the gloves with Nathan Horton after the hit. I don't think any punches hit Horton's head area but we'll have to keep an eye on him just in case, as he probably shouldn't be fighting much anymore, with the concussion he got from year.

In the third period, Tyler Seguin scored his 14th goal of the season to make it 6-0.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 37-31, faceoff wins 34-31, and blocked shots 17-12. The Flyers led the game in hits 28-20.

The Bruins went 2-for-7 on the power-play while the Flyers went 0-for-6.

Tim Thomas stopped all 31 shots he faced and recorded his 4th shutout of the season. Thomas is now 15-5-0 with a 1.83 GAA and a .943 save percentage this season.

Zdeno Chara in his first game back, got a Gordie Howe hat trick (1 goal, 1 assist and a fight), led the Bruins in ice time with 23:39, had 4 shots and 3 hits.

Rich Peverley had 3 assists.

Tyler Seguin led the Bruins in shots with 6.

Andrew Ference led the Bruins in blocked shots with 5.

Dennis Seidenberg led the Bruins in hits with 4.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 21-9-1 with 43 points, first place in the Northeast Division and second place in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins next game is on Monday hosting the hated Montreal Canadiens in Boston. If you haven't heard yet, Montreal has fired Jacques Martin earlier today and assistant Randy Cunneyworth was appointed interim head coach.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid was fined $2,500 for his skate-on-knee hit on Senators forward Nick Foligno which resulted in a 5-minute major and game misconduct for kneeing.

NEW YORK – Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid has been fined $2,500, the maximum allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for kneeing Ottawa Senators forward Nick Foligno in NHL Game No. 448 in Ottawa on Wednesday, Dec. 14, the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 17:45 of the first period. McQuaid was assessed a major penalty for kneeing and a game misconduct.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson sprawls on the ice as Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron shoots the puck past him to score during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, in Ottawa, Ontario. The Bruins won 5-2. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Adrian Wyld)

Tonight the Bruins kept their winning ways going, 3 wins in a row, even without captain Zdeno Chara in the lineup (2 games now without Chara). Gregory Campbell also missed this game and Zach Hamill again got into the lineup.

In the first period, Rich Peverley scored his 6th goal of the season. Also in the period, Milan Lucic and Matt Carkner had a good heavyweight fight.

In the second period, Daniel Alfredson scored for the Senators to tie the game 1-1. Later, Chris Kelly scored his 12th goal of the season to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead.

In the third period, Patrice Bergeron scored his 6th goal of the season on a breakaway, to make it 3-1 Bruins. Less than a minute later, actually 56 seconds later, Daniel Paille scored on a breakaway, his 4th goal of the season to make it 4-1. Later, Jason Spezza scored to make it 4-2. A little less than two minutes left in the game, Daniel Paille scored his second goal of the game, his 5th goal of the season to make it 5-2 Bruins.

Milan Lucic vs Matt Carkner

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in faceoff wins 33-22 and blocked shots 18-13. The Senators led the game in shots 49-29 and hits 26-22.

The Senators went 0-for-5 on the power-play while the Bruins had no power-plays.

Tim Thomas played in net for the Bruins and made 47 saves on 49 shots. Thomas is now 14-5-0 with a 1.93 GAA and a .940 save percentage.

Patrice Bergeron, Chris Kelly and Daniel Paille led the Bruins in shots with 4 apiece.

Johnny Boychuk led the Bruins in blocked shots with 4.

Adam McQuaid and Chris Kelly led the Bruins in hits with 3 apiece.

McQuaid got a 5-minute major and game misconduct for kneeing Nick Foligno. On replay it showed that McQuaid's skate hit Foligno's knee.

Andrew Ference had a big night, leading the Bruins in ice time with 27:33. He had 2 assists, was +3, had 3 shots and 2 hits.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 20-9-1 with 41 points which is 1st in the Northeast Division. The Bruins next game is on Saturday at 1pm ET at the Philadelphia Flyers.

Tuesday night, Tuukka Rask was great in net as the Bruins beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-0. Rask saved all 41 shots he faced, earning him his first shutout of the season. Rask is now 6-4-1 with a 1.82 GAA and a .939 save percentage this season.

In the first period, Rich Peverley scored his 5th goal of the season.

In the second period, Brad Marchand scored his 10th goal of the season.

In the third period, Brad Marchand scored his 11th goal of the season.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in faceoff wins 34-19 and blocked shots 25-8. The Kings led the game in shots 41-22 and hits 28-18.

The Bruins went 0-for-3 on the power-play, while the Kings went 0-for-4.

Zdeno Chara did not play in this game. Daniel Paille was back in the lineup. Gregory Campbell was out and Zach Hamill was in the lineup and made a great pass to Peverley for the first goal.

Patrice Bergeron had 2 assists, was +2, had 3 hits and went 13-6 in faceoffs.

Dennis Seidenberg led the Bruins in blocked shots with 6.

Milan Lucic and Patrice Bergeron led the Bruins in hits with 3 apiece.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

A report on NHL.com says that Bruins Zdeno Chara is expected to be out a week so he'll miss the next three games. The three games are against the Los Angeles Kings, the Ottawa Senators, and the Philadelphia Flyers.

Bruins captain and top-pair defenseman Zdeno Chara is expected to miss at least the next three games after suffering a leg injury Saturday night, according to reports.

The injury occurred during the second period of Boston's 5-3 win at Columbus. Chara walked to the dressing room under his own power.

The Bruins play Los Angeles, Ottawa and Philadelphia this week. If Chara's recovery goes according to plan, there is a chance he will be available for Montreal's home game against the Canadiens on Dec. 19.Source

Being down by two goals to the last place Columbus Blue Jackets only twelve minutes into the game; Zdeno Chara getting injured in the second period and not returning to the game; and with Tim Thomas getting replaced by Tuukka Rask to start the third period, you may have thought the Bruins were getting beaten badly and didn't have a chance to get back. But it was 2-2 after two periods and the Bruins are the Bruins in the third period so no worries right? This time no worries, as the Bruins scored two goals in the third period to put away the Blue Jackets and end their losing streak.

Game summary
In the first period, Shawn Thornton and Jared Boll dropped the gloves and had a re-match fight. It was a good fight with Thornton getting the decision. Thornton challenged Boll in his first shift once they both got on the ice. So you know this fight happened due to Thornton being upset with Boll from their previous fight where Boll threw two late punches at Thornton.

Rick Nash and Jeff Carter scored to make it 2-0 Columbus. With 1:34 remaining in the period, Joe Corvo scored his 1st goal of the season, which obviously was his first goal as a Bruin. Only 45 seconds later, Nathan Horton scored his 8th goal of the season to tie the game 2-2.

In the second period, Zdeno Chara scored his 6th goal of the season, a power-play goal, to make it 3-2 Bruins. R.J. Umberger scored later to tie the game 3-3. Later Chara would leave the game around the 5-minute mark of the period because of a leg injury. Maybe a possible knee injury. Claude Julien's post-game quotes about Chara are below.

Tuukka Rask started the third period and looked good through the period stopping everything Columbus threw his way. Joe Corvo scored his 2nd goal of the season and game, a power-play goal to give the Bruins a 4-3 lead. With the Bruins on a power-play with less than two minutes in the game, Chris Kelly scored his 11th goal of the season to make it 5-3 Bruins. Patrice Bergeron made a beautiful pass to Kelly, who roofed it by goalie Curtis Sanford.

Through two periods, Tim Thomas made 22 saves on 25 shots. Thomas did not get the decision in this game. Thomas is still 13-5-0, and now has a 1.92 GAA and a .938 save percentage. Tuukka Rask played the third period, made 11 saves on 11 shots and he got the win. Rask is now 5-4-1 with a 2.01 GAA and a .930 save percentage.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in faceoff wins 27-23 and blocked shots 17-10. The Blue Jackets led the game in shots 36-29 and hits 28-14.

The Bruins went 3-for-6 on the power-play while Columbus went 1-for-6.

Rich Peverley went 6-1 in the faceoff circle.

Joe Corvo with his first two goals as a Bruin, was also +1 with 5 shots and 1 blocked shot. The 5 shots led the Bruins.

David Krejci had 2 assists with 2 shots.

Milan Lucic had an odd night, recording 3 assists, 8 PIMs including a bad double-minor, 0 shots and 5 hits. The 5 hits led the Bruins.

"We don't if it's just one or if he'll be back in next game," Julien said. "I'm not quite sure. I haven't had a chance, so it's hard to comment until I know the severity of it. Throughout the season, you're going to have some injuries, and you're going to have to live with them."

Chara was walking without noticeable discomfort after the game. Chara will travel back to Boston tonight and be re-evaluated upon the team's return.Source

Claude Julien on his decision to pull Tim Thomas and play Tuukka Rask in the third period:

"Timmy didn't look as comfortable as we've seen him and he let couple goals go thru. It was a gut decision."Source

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 18-9-1 with 37 points and back in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins next game is on Tuesday hosting the Los Angeles Kings in Boston at 7pm ET. The Kings have been struggling recently, going 4-5-1 in their last 10 games.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Some not so good news concerning Daniel Paille. Just when he took off the cage after recovering from taking a puck to the face, Bruins coach said that Daniel Paille has a mild concussion and will be out for the time being. Paille got the concussion from a Krys Barch hit on Thursday night.

"He's going to be out for the time being," Julien said. "They think it's a mild concussion, but again, you never know. We'll take it day by day. He's feeling a little better today, which is always good news to hear."

"It was a clean hit," Julien said Thursday. "I think it was just how he ended up going down, I guess, or whether it looked like there was almost helmet-to-helmet collision there in slow-motion."Source

Somehow I missed posting about this on the blog, but on Thursday Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli announced that the Bruins have signed defenseman Dougie Hamilton to entry-level contract.

As of December 8, the 18-year-old Hamilton ranked tied for seventh amongst all Ontario Hockey League skaters in scoring, with 41 points on 11 goals and 30 assists. He currently leads all OHL defensemen in goals, assists and points. Hamilton was named the OHL's Defenseman of the Month for October and captained the Team OHL squad that took on Team Russia in the 2011 Subway Super Series.

Hamilton is also one of the 41 players invited to Team Canada's selection camp for the World Junior Championships, which will be held in Calgary on December 10. 22 players will make Team Canada's final roster for the World Junior tournament, which is scheduled for Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Calgary and Edmonton.Source

The Bruins dominated most of Thursday's game against the Florida Panthers but Jose Theodore was good and he also got lucky a few times as the Bruins hit a few posts. Theodore always seems to play well against the Bruins for whatever reason. The Panthers would get lucky in the third period scoring with Tim Thomas down and Joe Corvo not able to get to the puck before Tomas Kopecky would. And the Panthers added an empty net goal to put the game away 2-0 and end Tim Thomas' 10-game winning streak.

Game notes
In the first period, Florida's newly acquired Krys Barch got a charging penalty for hitting Daniel Paille near the boards which left Paille woozy. NESN replays later showed that it looked like Barch hits Paille head or they collided heads. Both Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell dropped the gloves to get at Barch, but it would end up being Thornton taking on Barch once again. These two always seem to fight, remember the Dallas game last season. Thornton would get the decision in the fight. Paille would leave the game and not return.

In the second period, Johnny Boychuk laid out a Panthers player and Jack Skille came over and bumped into Boychuk. They dropped the gloves and had a good exchange.

Tim Thomas made 28 saves on 29 shots. Thomas is now 13-5-0 with a 1.83 GAA and a .941 save percentage.

The Bruins led the game in shots 40-29 and faceoff wins 28-24. The Panthers led the game in hits 19-16 and blocked shots 16-10.

The Bruins went 0-for-4 on the power-play, while the Panthers went 0-for-1.

Tyler Seguin played but he didn't really do much out there, as some other Bruins players. Seguin had 3 shots on net. The Lucic-Krejci-Horton line were all -2.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 17-9-1 and 3rd place in the Eastern Conference (Florida moving to 2nd place). The Bruins next game is on Saturday at the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7pm ET.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec (31) makes a paddle save with Boston Bruins' Patrice Bergeron watching during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Trevor Hagan)

It was a hard fought game and in the end the Bruins couldn't tie up the game in the third period even with Tuukka Rask pulled as the Jets beat the Bruins 2-1 to stop the Bruins point streak. It was a really fast paced good game and Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec was great in net, stopping 39 of 40 shots he faced.

The biggest news wasn't that the Bruins finally lost a game in regulation, it was that Tyler Seguin was scratched from the line up due to disciplinary action because Seguin missed a mandatory team breakfast and meeting yesterday morning. It also seems this wasn't Seguin's first time doing this.

We'll see how Seguin handles this and how this may help his maturation process.

"He missed a team breakfast and a team meeting this morning," said GM Peter Chiarelli, explaining Seguin's absence from the lineup vs. the Jets. "He didn't wake up. Honest mistake. But we have team rules. We abide by them. He has to abide by them. So that’s the reason for his scratch."

"He's had a couple of instances before," said the GM. "I don't see it as a problem. I see it as a young player who sometimes forgets to set his alarm. We gave him a couple of passes (in the past). It's a young kid who's learning to be a pro — and is a heck of a player."

How did he take it?

"Not good," said Chiarelli. "But he understands there is a set of team rules and everyone plays by the rules."Source

In the first period, Andrew Ladd scored to give the Jets a 1-0 lead on a perfect shot that beat Tuukka Rask up high over Rask's right shoulder short-side.

In the second period, no scoring happened.

In the third period, Shawn Thornton got credit for a goal, his 2nd goal of the season, as the puck deflected off his gloves from a Daniel Paille attempted pass that got redirected by former Bruin Mark Stuart. A little later Mark Stuart would get hurt as he went into the d-zone to get the puck and David Krejci went to hit him and Stuart turned his back at the last second and Krejci hit him against the boards. Stuart dropped to the ice and remained there for a little. Zach Bogosian came in and roughed up Krejci a little for the hit. Both Krejci and Bogosian got 2-minute roughing penalties. Krejci wasn't penalized for the hit, as Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley stated the refs must have seen Stuart turn his back at the last second. Stuart was able to get up and skate off the ice on his own power. On the ensuing faceoff, it was 4-on-4, and Joe Corvo made a mistake which let the Jets have a 2-on-1 and Bryan Little scored to make it 2-1. Mark Stuart would come back into the game later. The game would end 2-1.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 40-35. The Jets led the game in faceoff wins 30-29, hits 20-12 and blocked shots 22-15. Both teams went 0-for-3 on the power-play.

Tuukka Rask played in net and made 33 saves on 35 shots. Rask is now 4-4-1 with a 2.09 GAA and a .927 save percentage.

Joe Corvo had a bad game, being -2 in only 14:16 of ice time. After his mistake in the third period, I don't remember seeing him on the ice much.

Milan Lucic led the Bruins in shots with 5.

Adam McQuaid and Andrew Ference both had 4 blocked shots to lead the Bruins.

Johnny Boychuk led the Bruins in hits with 3, including a big hip check near the beginning of the game on Evander Kane.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 17-8-1 with 35 points still and in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference and 1st place in the Northeast Division. The Bruins next game is on Thursday against the SouthEast Division leading Florida Panthers, in Boston at 7pm ET. Ex-Bruin Marco Sturm should be in the Panthers lineup.

Monday, December 5, 2011

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 5: Patrice Bergeron #37 of the Boston Bruins and Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins wait for the puck drop on a face off on December 5, 2011 at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Boston defeated Pittsburgh 3-1. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

The two top Eastern Conference teams went at it tonight and what a game it was with the Bruins taking on the Penguins. It was a fast-action hard-nosed game with both teams going back and forth. Tim Thomas was the man for the Bruins as he held the Penguins off for a 3-1 win by the Bruins.

In the first period, no scoring happened.

In the second period, Gregory Campbell scored his 2nd goal of the season to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Benoit Pouliot later scored his 4th goal of the season to make it 2-0 Bruins. During the period, Brad Marchand slew-footed Matt Niskanen and then they fought each other. Niskanen hits Marchand's helmet a lot with punches, Marchand would come back later with some big punches but this was mainly a draw. Watch the Marchand-Niskanen fight here.

In the third period, Tyler Seguin scored his 13th goal of the season, a power-play goal, from a sweet move by Patrice Bergeron as he schooled defenseman Matt Niskanen and then made a nice pass over to Seguin who one-timed the puck into the net. Later, Matt Cooke scored to make it 3-1. In the period, Joe Vitale bumped into Tim Thomas and Gregory Campbell and Zdeno Chara were trying to get after him. Campbell and Vitale would come out of the scrum, dropped the gloves and had a good fight. It looked like a lot of Campbell's punches didn't reach Vitale. By the end Campbell was dead tired and the fight ended after Vitale threw a left that seemed to hit Campbell's helmet and Campbell fell to the ice. Campbell was fine and got up with no problems so I think it was mostly Campbell being tired and losing his balance from the Vitale punch, not a KO punch. Watch the Campbell-Vitale fight here.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in faceoff wins 39-36 and blocked shots 9-8. The Penguins led the game in shots 46-27 and hits 24-13.

The Bruins went 1-for-5 on the power-play while the Penguins went 0-for-2 (which were 5-on-3s) on the power-play.

Tim Thomas played in net and made 45 saves on 46 shots. Thomas is now 13-4 with a 1.87 GAA and a .940 save percentage.

Rich Peverley had 2 assists.

Johnny Boychuk, David Krejci, Benoit Pouliot all had 4 shots apiece to lead the Bruins.

Milan Lucic led the Bruins in hits with 3.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 17-7-1 with 35 points, 2nd place in the Eastern Conference (1 point behind Pittsburgh but with 3 games in hand), and 1st place in the Northeast Division. The Bruins are on a 4-game winning streak now. They have not lost a game in regulation since October, going 14-0-1 in their last 15 games.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

BOSTON, MA - DECEMBER 03: Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins stops a shot in the second period against the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 3, 2011 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Tonight was the second game of a home-and-home with the Toronto Maple Leafs and again the Bruins were able to win and shut down Phil Kessel. Kessel had 0 points, was -2, with 5 shots on net. Even with James Reimer returning into net for the Leafs they weren't able to stop the Bruins. The Lucic-Krejci-Horton again was playing great and wracked up points tonight.

In the first period, no scoring happened.

In the second period, David Krejci scored his 5th goal of the season. Bruins killer Mikhail Grabovski would score less than a minute later to tie the game 1-1. Later, Chris Kelly scored his 10th goal of the season to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead.

In the third period, Johnny Boychuk let a hard slap shot go and blew by Reimer for his 3rd goal of the season to make it 3-1 Bruins. Later, Nathan Horton scored his 7th goal of the season with a hard wrist shot to make it 4-1 Bruins.

Also in the third period, Joe Corvo got his first NHL career fighting major as he dropped the gloves with Joey Crabb with a rather uneventful fight. As you can tell, Corvo is in no way a fighter. Yea it takes real balls to take on a non-fighter. I guess the decision went to Crabb as it looked like some of his punches may have landed whereas Corvo's punches didn't reach Crabb. But that's the only thing Toronto won tonight.

Joey Crabb vs Joe Corvo

Game notes
Tuukka Rask played in net for the Bruins and made 21 saves on 22 shots. Rask is now 4-3-1 with a 2.09 GAA and a .924 save percentage this season.

The Bruins led the game in shots 30-22 and domained the faceoff circle 42-20. The Leafs led the game in hits 28-23 and blocked shots 15-12.

The Bruins went 0-for-2 on the power-play and the Leafs went 0-for-4.

Patrice Bergeron was great on faceoffs, going 19-4.

Nathan Horton had a goal and an assist, was +2 with 3 shots.

David Krejci had a goal and an assist, was +2 with 2 shots.

Milan Lucic had 2 assists, was +2 with 3 shots.

Zdeno Chara and Milan Lucic both had 4 hits to lead the Bruins.

Ex-Bruins Phil Kessel and Joe Colborne didn't do much tonight. Kessel had 0 points, was -2 with 5 shots. Colborne had 0 points, was -1 with 1 shot and 4 hits.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 16-7-1 with 33 points and 1st place in the Northeast Division. The Bruins next game is on Monday at the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7pm ET.

The Hockey News has a special feature on Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid, "Before I Made It: Adam McQuaid" that is a good read to learn a little more about the young tough Bruins defenseman.

I got into hockey because my parents wanted to get me into something so that I could be more social. I was a bit of a shy kid so they just wanted me to play a team sport and socialize with other kids my age. My parents were awesome. They were always encouraging and never gave me any advice really - probably mainly because they were just fans of the game, but never really played too much themselves. So it wasn’t like they were ever critiquing me, they were more just there for support.

...

I watched a lot of hockey as a kid and when I was really young my favorite player was Patrick Roy. Around the time he got traded to Colorado I kind of jumped ship and became a fan of Felix Potvin and Doug Gilmour. I'm not sure why, but I kind of gravitated toward goalies.

...

I was in the American League for two-and-a-half years and I really think the trade to Boston helped me. They really worked with me and there were a lot of areas I had to improve on, including my skating and puck skills, and they were willing to give me an opportunity. That's all you can really ask for.
Source: The Hockey News (link above)

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Boston Bruins David Krejci, from the Czech Republic, celebrates after scoring a goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the first period of Game 4 of the NHL playoff hockey series on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 in Montreal. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Ryan Remiorz)

Today Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli has announced that the Bruins have signed forward David Krejci to a 3-year contract extension through the 2014-15 NHL season.

And the contract has a limited no-trade clause in the final two years.

Krejci's deal, a three-year $15.75 million deal with a limited no-trade clause in the final two years, was actually signed prior to Wednesday's game against the Maple Leafs. Peter Chiarelli joked that he likes to think it put Krejci in the right frame of mind to go out and rack up three points in the win over Toronto.Source

After Wednesday's game against Toronto, David Krejci was asked about the trade rumors surrounding him. Here's his response via CSNNE:

"I love the city. I love the team. Everybody really gets along well. We are winning," said Krejci when asked about the trade rumors. "I like to be on a winning team and I like to have a chance to win the Cup. This is the team, you know? I would like to have a chance to stay here."Source

From the Bruins site:

The 25-year-old Krejci was drafted by the Bruins in the 2nd round (63rd overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He has skated in 318 career NHL games – all with Boston – and has registered 62 goals and 165 assists for 227 points. Krejci has tied for the Bruins team lead in points in each of the last two seasons, tallying 52 points in 2009-10 and 62 points in 2010-11. He set career highs in goals, assists, points, games played and plus/minus during the 2008-09 season after tallying 22-51=73 totals in 82 games with a +37 rating.

...

During the Bruins 2010-11 Stanley Cup Championship run, Krejci finished as the NHL's playoff scoring leader with 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points in 25 games, becoming the first Bruin to do so since Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr shared the postseason scoring title in 1972. His 12 playoff goals included four gamewinners (three of which came against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals) and one hat trick (Game 6 loss versus Tampa in Eastern Conference Finals). He also had the primary assist on Nathan Horton's gamewinning goal against Tampa in Game Seven that propelled the Bruins to their first Cup Final since 1990.

For his playoff career, Krejci has compiled 44 points in 52 postseason contests with 19 goals and 25 assists.Source

The Bruins beat the Maple Leafs 6-3 in the first of a home-and-home series Wednesday night. It was a good back and forth game with a lot of scoring chances and hitting. With the Bruins win tonight against the Leafs, the Bruins finished November going 12-0-1, with zero regulation losses. Tonight's win made this month the Bruins' first month without a regulation loss since January of 1969. Wow, that is just amazing.

Here's the scoring summary of tonight's game.

In the first period, Bruins killer Mikhail Grabovski scored to make it 1-0. Later, Milan Lucic scored a power-play goal, his 9th goal of the season, to tie the game 1-1.

In the second period, David Krejci scored his 4th goal of the season to make it 2-1 Bruins. A little later, Joffrey Lupul scored to tie the game 2-2. Zdeno Chara scored his 5th goal of the season later in the period to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead.

In the third period, Benoit Pouliot scored his 3rd goal of the season to make it 4-2 Bruins. Leafs Matt Frattin scored to make it 4-3. Later, Milan Lucic scored his 10th goal of the season and second goal of the game to make it 5-3 Bruins. Brad Marchand would put the game away with 52 seconds left in the game, with an open net goal, his 9th goal of the season.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 39-37, faceoff wins 37-25 and hits 24-23. The Leafs led the game in blocked shots 19-18. The Bruins went 1-for-3 on the power-play while the Leafs went 1-for-2.

Tim Thomas played in net and made 34 saves on 37 shots. Thomas is now 12-4 with a 1.93 GAA and a .936 save percentage.

Benoit Pouliot's goal was the game-winner.

Zdeno Chara had 1 goal and 1 assist, was +2, had 6 shots (led Bruins) and 4 blocked shots (tied with Patrice Bergeron to lead the Bruins).

Nathan Horton had 2 assists, was +2 and had 2 shots.

David Krejci had 1 goal and 2 assists, was +2 and had 3 shots.

Milan Lucic had 2 goals, was +1 and had 3 shots.

Adam McQuaid led the Bruins in hits with 5.

Ex-Bruins not getting it done
Phil Kessel finished the game with 1 assist, a -3 and 3 shots. Now in his career against Boston, Kessel is -12 in 15 games with 2 goals and 5 assists.

Joe Colborne finished the game +1 with 1 hit and went 3-10 in faceoffs.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 15-7-1 and in 1st place in the Northeast Division. The Bruins next game is on Saturday against these same Toronto Maple Leafs in Boston at 7pm ET.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Boston Bruins' Chris Kelly (23) celebrates his second goal of the second period with teammate Adam McQuaid during an NHL hockey game against the Winnipeg Jets in Boston, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011. The Bruins won 4-2. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Saturday night old pals Mark Stuart and Blake Wheeler came to Boston with the Winnipeg Jets to take on the Bruins. The Bruins would give up two quick goals in the first period but turn it around and not allow anymore to beat the Jets 4-2.

In the first period, Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien scored two quick goals by mid-way through the period, to make it 2-0 Jets. Later, Zdeno Chara scored his 4th goal of the season, a power-play goal to make it 2-1.

In the second period, Chris Kelly scored two goals for the Bruins, his 8th and 9th goals of the season, to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead. The first goal was a short-handed goal.

In the third period, Brad Marchand scored an empty-net goal to put the game away 4-2 for the Bruins.

This game wasn't as intense, spirited and physical as some recent past games but there was a lot of back-and-forth action trading scoring chances. Former Bruin Blake Wheeler had an assist and was -1 in the 14:01 of ice time he got. And former Bruin Mark Stuart was +1 in 19:42 of ice time he got.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in faceoff wins 30-19 and blocked shots 11-9. The Jets led the game in shots 42-35 and hits 23-16. The Bruins went 1-for-5 on the power-play while the Jets went 0-for-4.

Tim Thomas made 40 saves on 42 shots. Thomas is now 11-4-0 with a 1.86 GAA and a .937 save percentage this season.

Zdeno Chara led the Bruins in shots with 6.

Rich Peverley had 2 assists.

Andrew Ference led the Bruins with 4 blocked shots.

Gregory Campbell and Zdeno Chara led the Bruins in hits with 3 apiece.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 14-7-1 and are 1st place in the Northeast Division (2nd place in the Eastern Conference and 4th place overall in the NHL). The Bruins next game is on Wednesday, November 30th at the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7pm ET.

BOSTON, MA - NOVEMBER 25: Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins reacts after Todd Bertuzzi of the Detroit Red Wings scores the game winning goal on November 25, 2011 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2 in an overtime shootout. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Sorry for not posting sooner as I've been away for a few days because of the Thanksgiving holiday but here we go.

The Detroit Red Wings came into Boston on Friday, November 25th for a 1pm ET game and they ended the Bruins 10-game winning streak with a 3-2 shootout win over the Bruins.

In the first period, Detroit's Valtteri Filppula scored to make it 1-0.

In the second period, Daniel Paille scored his 3rd goal of the season to tie the game 1-1. Pavel Datsyuk would score 35 seconds later to make it 2-1 with a beautiful individual play.

In the third period, Patrice Bergeron scored his 5th goal of the season to tie the game 2-2.

The game went into overtime but nobody scored so it went to a shootout. In the shootout: Tyler Seguin did not score, Pavel Datsyuk scored, Rich Peverley did not score, Jiri Hudler did not score, Nathan Horton scored, and Todd Bertuzzi scored on a beautiful deke to win the game for the Red Wings.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 43-31 and hits 30-22. The Red Wings led the game in faceoff wins 28-27. Both teams had 16 blocked shots. Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power-play.

Tuukka Rask played in net and made 29 saves on 31 shots. Rask is now 3-3-1 with a 2.25 GAA and a .921 save percentage.

Zdeno Chara led the Bruins in shots with 6.

Patrice Bergeron led the Bruins in blocked shots with 4.

Johnny Boychuk led the Bruins in hits with 4.

Onto the next one
After this game the Bruins were 13-7-1. Their next game would be against the Winnipeg Jets in Boston on Saturday night.

What a game tonight's Bruins-Sabres game was, with action throughout the game. We all knew Milan Lucic would drop the gloves with someone on Buffalo, we just weren't sure who exactly.

Only 1:23 into the first period, on Lucic's first shift of the game, the crowd booed loudly as Lucic lined up for the faceoff. Paul Gaustad came out onto the ice and lined up next to Lucic and they exchanged some words. Once the puck dropped, Lucic and Gaustad dropped the gloves and the helmets and went at it. Gaustad seemed hesitant and not sure how to go about fighting Lucic. Lucic threw more and landed more of the punches and the decision went to Lucic. Watch the fight below. Even though Lucic won the fight it gave the Sabres a big momentum boost as they would outplay the Bruins in the first period.

Milan Lucic vs Paul Gaustad, November 23, 2011

A little later there was a big scrum with all of the players included behind Tim Thomas and the Bruins net. Brad Marchand took a run at Nathan Gerbe, then Gaustad hit Marchand which brought Adam McQuaid and everybody else into the pile. Zdeno Chara and Robyn Regehr separated and had an ok fight exchanging a few punches with the decision going to Chara.

The Sabres scored two power-play goals in the first period. Ehrhoff and Bruins killer Vanek scored for the Sabres.

In the second period, the Sabres weren't as "hungry" as they were in the first period. Tyler Seguin scored his 12th goal of the season, a power-play goal, to make it 2-1. Seguin scored on a Stamkos-like one-timer on the off-wing. Sabres T.J. Brennan later scored to make it 3-1. Later, Brad Marchand scored to make it 3-2. Before the goal, Marchand was laid out by Vanek, but Marchand would score a few seconds later and then yell at the Sabres bench after the goal. Also in the second period, Drew Stafford bumped into Tim Thomas and Andrew Ference went after him right away, dropping his gloves and they went at it but not much landed by either guy. Hey Sabres, that's how you're suppose to react to those kinds of things when they happen in a game.

In the third period, again the Sabres didn't look anything like how they played in the first period. Zdeno Chara scored his 3rd goal of the season, a power-play goal from a shot from the point that looked to deflect off a Sabres player's leg or skate.

The game went into overtime but nobody scored so the game went to a shootout. Vanek didn't score, Seguin didn't score, Gerbe didn't score, Peverley didn't score, Pominville didn't score, Krejci didn't score, Roy didn't score, Bergeron didn't score, Stafford didn't score, and then of all people Benoit Pouliot scored to win the game for the Bruins as he roofed the puck into the net past Jhonas Enroth.

Tim Thomas remained perfect in the shootout this season.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 39-34, faceoff wins 40-31 and blocked shots 14-10. The Sabres led the game in hits 39-24.

The Bruins went 2 for 5 on the power-play while the Sabres went 2 for 4 on the power-play.

Tim Thomas is now 10-4 with a 1.85 GAA and a .936 save percentage this season.

Patrice Bergeron had 2 assists in the game and went 10-8 in faceoffs.

Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist.

Brad Marchand led the Bruins in hits with 6.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now on a 10-game winning streak and are 13-7 this season and in 1st place in the Northeast Division. The Bruins next game is on Friday at 1pm ET hosting the Detroit Red Wings in Boston. The game will be on NBC.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

BOSTON, MA - NOVEMBER 01: Milan Lucic #17 of the Boston Bruins celebrates his goal in the first period against the Ottawa Senators on November 1, 2011 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Milan Lucic talking a little with the media about tomorrow's game against the Buffalo Sabres and if he expects some type of revenge...

Not beating around the bush, Dupont asked Lucic if he expected one of the Buffalo players to drop the mitts.

His response?

"Yes. I'm not going to lie...yes."

Not a surprise, but definitely interesting given Brendan Shanahan has spoken with both GMs — Buffalo's Darcy Regier and Boston's Peter Chiarelli — informing them that "awareness will be heightened" for the game. Lucic's honesty is admirable, even though a "no comment" might've been the smarter play.Source

Lucic said he understands what may occur and is ready for whatever happens.

"Obviously," he said. "I mean, hitting a goalie, there's kind of a code there. No matter if it was accidental or not, you're going to have to stand up for your actions. I truly believe in that. That's why I'm not scared to stand up for it."

"They've been talking a lot about not having the right response, so who knows what'll happen? They might feel this is their time to respond. But you know how we are as a team. We're going to stand in there strong and do whatever we need to do. We'll make sure we protect ourselves and each other and try to win a game."Source

I'm expecting either Sabres Paul Gaustad or Robyn Regehr to challenge Lucic to a fight on his first shift and then it will be over with. There's so much build up that possibly nothing will happen in the game as in the past we've seen, but who knows.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Boston Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference (21), center, celebrates with teammates after scoring the first goal against the Montreal Canadiens during first period National Hockey League action Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 in Montreal. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Ryan Remiorz

Tim Thomas showed tonight, and has been showing this whole season, why he's the best goalie in the NHL right now. Thomas stopped all 33 shots he faced, shutting out the Habs 1-0 in a game that went down to the final seconds as Montreal dived their way to a power-play. What a great game by Thomas. He was the reason the Bruins won as Montreal outplayed the Bruins.

Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference scored the only goal of the game, in the first period, his 2nd goal of the season.

Bruins Benoit Pouliot took two bad dumb penalties in the second period and I won't be surprised if he doesn't play the next few games and Jordan Caron plays instead. The Bruins managed to kill off the first 2-minute penalty and then the 4-minute double-minor penalty that he took.

Game notes
Montreal led the game in shots 33-18, faceoff wins 26-25 and hits 26-21. The Bruins led the game in blocked shots 17-12. The Bruins went 0 for 1 on the power-play while Montreal went 0 for 4.

Tim Thomas made 33 saves on 33 shots and got his 3rd shutout of the season. Thomas is now 9-4 with a 1.77 GAA and a .938 save percentage.

Patrice Bergeron had a bad night in the faceoff circle going 6-12, while Rich Peverley went 6-1.

Johnny Boychuk and Adam McQuaid led the Bruins in blocked shots with 4 apiece.

Milan Lucic and Adam McQuaid led the Bruins in hits with 3 apiece.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 12-7 this season and in 1st place in the Northeast Division. Get ready to rumble? As the next Bruins game is on Wednesday at the Buffalo Sabres at 7pm ET. This is the rematch game following the Milan Lucic hit on Ryan Miller. Many think that the Sabres will try and get some retribution in this game. So who will it be to step up and challenge Lucic to a fight? Their tough guy, Cody McCormick, is out injured. Tyler Myers is now out injured too. That leaves Robyn Regehr, Paul Gaustad and cheapshot artist Patrick Kaleta (he's the biggest cheapshot artist in the Eastern Conference behind Matt Cooke). I doubt Kaleta would fight but he will most likely try and lay out some Bruins so they have to keep their heads up when this idiot is on the ice. Speaking of which, Kaleta was fined today for high-sticking ex-Bruin Phoenix defenseman Derek Morris during Saturday's game. The refs should be watching him closely.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Boston Bruins' Patrice Bergeron (37) shoots the puck past New York Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro (39) to score in the first period of an NHL hockey game on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011, in Uniondale, N.Y. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)

The Bruins have now won 8 straight games since their back-to-back losses to Montreal, who they play next by the way, by beating the New York Islanders Saturday night 6-0 in a strong all-around performance. This was just a complete solid game by the Bruins. Here's the scoring summary.

In the first period, Patrice Bergeron scored his 4th goal of the season from a beautiful pass from Tyler Seguin. Later, Nathan Horton scored his 6th goal of the season, a power-play goal, on a strong wrist shot. Chris Kelly would score later, his 6th goal of the season to make it 3-0 Bruins.

In the second period, no scoring happened.

In the third period, Andrew Ference scored his 1st goal of the season to make it 4-0. Later, Chris Kelly scored his 2nd goal of the game, his 7th goal of the season, making it 5-0. Zdeno Chara would finish the scoring by scoring his 2nd goal of the season making it 6-0. Another six goal game for the Bruins and another win.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 30-23 and faceoff wins 42-26. The Islanders led the game in hits 28-18 and blocked shots 18-14. The Bruins went 1 for 4 on the power-play while the Islanders went 0 for 1.

With Johnny Boychuk back in the lineup, Steven Kampfer was a scratch.

Tim Thomas played in net and made some big saves when the Bruins needed him to. Thomas got his 2nd shutout of the season and is now 8-4 with a 1.92 GAA and a .932 save percentage this season.

Chris Kelly finished the game with 2 goals and 1 assist, +3 with 4 shots.

Joe Corvo was +4 and had 1 assist.

Gregory Campbell had a strong night in the faceoff circle going 12-2.

Brad Marchand had 2 assists and was +2.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 11-7 this season and in 3rd place in the Northeast Division. The Bruins next game is on Monday at Montreal at 7:30pm ET on Versus.

The Bruins were lucky to get two points out of Thursday's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets as they did not look like they were into the game much and played really sloppy. But Tuukka Rask was the Bruins best player and played great to keep the Bruins in the game and eventually won it in the shootout. Andrew Ference returned to the Bruins lineup as Johnny Boychuk was scratched due to having flu-like symptoms. Daniel Paille also returned to the Bruins lineup, wearing a full cage, as Jordan Caron was the healthy scratch.

Here's the scoring summary.

In the first period, no scoring happened.

In the second period, Derek MacKenzie scored a power-play goal to give Columbus a 1-0 lead. Less than two minutes later, Adam McQuaid scored his 1st goal of the season to tie the game. In the period, Shawn Thornton dropped the gloves with Jared Boll and they had a good spirited bout. I would give it a draw. Thornton looked to have some red marks on his face after the fight. Thornton also looked really pissed off after the fight as if Boll broke the code in some way, maybe a late punch or something, but I didn't see anything unusual when watching. I'll have to take another look at it.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand, center, celebrates his goal against the New Jersey Devils with defenseman Zdeno Chara (33), of Slovakia, and center Patrice Bergeron, right, in the third period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011. The Bruins won 4-3. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

The New Jersey Devils brought it tonight against the Bruins and Johan Hedberg had a great game but the Bruins were last to score and managed to keep the lead at the end of the game to win 4-3. Tim Thomas was in net for the Bruins and played well himself.

In the first period, no scoring happened.

In the second period, Brad Marchand took a bad dumb roughing penalty and with the Devils on the power-play, David Clarkson scored to give the Devils a 1-0 lead. Marchand would find himself on the bench for the rest of the period. Later in the period, Chris Kelly would capitalize on a Hedberg puck handling mistake as Gregory Campbell chipped the puck out in front of the net while Hedberg was out of the net and Kelly came rushing in to put the puck in the back of the net to tie the game. That was Kelly's 5th goal of the season.

At the start of the third period, the Bruins had a set play that worked beautifully, as it did in Toronto with Milan Lucic-Zdeno Chara. The Bruins won the faceoff, Zdeno Chara got the puck and sent Brad Marchand in on a breakaway and Marchand would bury it behind Hedberg to make it 2-1. That was Marchand's 6th goal of the season. Palmieri for the Devils tied the game up 2-2. Shawn Thornton would score his 1st goal of the season to give the Bruins the 3-2 lead. What a great play by Gregory Campbell and Jordan Caron to make that goal happen. Palmieri would score again to tie the game 3-3. Later, Benoit Pouliot scored his 2nd goal of the season to make it 4-3. The Bruins would hold on and win the game.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 37-30, faceoff wins 41-25 and hits 30-25. The Devils led the game in blocked shots 13-10.

Tim Thomas played in net and made 27 saves on 30 shots. Thomas is now 7-4 with a 2.09 GAA and a .927 save percentage.

Patrice Bergeron had another great game in the faceoff circle going 24-9.

Gregory Campbell had 2 assists and was +2.

Tyler Seguin's point streak ended tonight. He was +1 with 1 shot.

Brad Marchand led the Bruins in hits with 5.

Andrew Ference was again out of the lineup and Steven Kampfer played.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 9-7 this season with 18 points, which is still 4th place in the Northeast Division. The Bruins next game is on Thursday taking on the league worst Columbus Blue Jackets at 7pm ET.

Ok it's time to move on from the whole Lucic-Miller drama. Here are some quotes about the non-suspension from Claude Julien.

"From our end of it, we were convinced it wasn't deliberate," Claude Julien said. "We were hoping that was the decision that was going to be taken, and it was."

"I don't think they should be hit. Absolutely not," Julien said. "But there's a difference between a hit and a collision. That's always going to be a gray area in people's minds. Some people are going to call it a hit. Some people are going to call it a collision. As far as I'm concerned as a coach, I'll abide by any rule they want to put in there. If they say you can't touch him at all, you can't touch him at all. If they keep the rule the way it is, let's keep the rule the way it is. I know for a fact if Milan had intended on hitting him, he would have never got up. We know how hard he hits. That speaks for itself."Source

Yesterday Brendan Shanahan also reacted to Buffalo's complaining about the non-suspension and comments that it's open season on goalies now.

"I think Buffalo's comments are irresponsible to suggest that it's open season," Shanahan said at the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony. "I will have this warning for players: 'It's not. If you run a goalie you're going to find yourself in the same situation that Lucic was today, you're going to have to explain yourself and you don't explain it sufficiently, and if I don't buy it, you're going to be suspended.'"Source

Jack Edwards talking about possible revenge on November 23rd.

Update: Not surprised but interesting to see Ryan Miller admitted that they announced his concussion to try and get Milan Lucic suspended.

Miller revealed that he and the team went ahead with announcing he had a concussion in a bid to make a case that Lucic should be suspended.Source

Monday, November 14, 2011

Word came today that Bruins Milan Lucic will not be suspended for his collision with Sabres goalie Ryan Miller due to lack of intent. If you haven't seen the hit yet, you can watch it in our last post.

Shanahan held a hearing with Lucic via conference call because he had specific questions he wanted to ask before making a determination on potential supplemental discipline.

"I had the hearing because I did make an initial assessment of the play as I do with all plays, but I did have some questions for Milan and I wanted to hear directly from him," Shanahan told NHL.com. "They were regarding his intent; at what point did he know there was going to be a collision; and whether or not he felt he had the time to avoid the collision. I was satisfied with his answers."

Shanahan said the minor penalty for charging was the proper call in this case because it follows Rule 42.1, which reads "a goalkeeper is not fair game just because he is outside the goal crease area."

"The minor penalty called on the ice was the correct call," Shanahan said. "And, while it's unfortunate that Miller was hurt I saw nothing egregious about this hit that would elevate it to supplemental discipline."Source

Earlier today Lucic talked with the media before the hearing:

"(The hearing) is something I have to go through and just state my case and whatever happens, happens. It's out of my control," said Lucic. "It's exactly the same thing I said after the game. I blocked a shot and pushed the puck a little too far ahead of me and I skated after the puck as fast as I possibly could. I looked up and he was still in his net. I looked down at the puck and was continuing on and the next thing I knew, I looked up and he’s coming out full speed at me. Obviously it was a hard collision and I did everything I could just to brace myself. Like he said, I have 50 pounds on him and that’s why maybe he got the worst of it. Even if you look at the video, I was cringing after the play, too, because I was winded and because it was such a hard collision. And he got a good piece of me as well."

...

"I've looked at the hit 100 times and they said that he got a concussion. His shoulder hit my chest, so there was no hit to his head. His helmet came flying off but his head didn't hit the ice. And later in the period, someone lifted (Tyler Seguin's) stick and threw him into the net as well, so who knows what it was. It's obviously unfortunate that he got hurt on the play," said Lucic.

"Was I surprised? Yeah. Because with the new protocol and the concussion stuff, I know the last three NHLPA meetings that I've been a part of and their clarifying of concussions and head injuries, the main thing that they've talked about is there's no such thing as getting your bell rung or seeing stars anymore. That's considered a concussion and if you're in that position, you have to do whatever you can do to take yourself out of play. Obviously, Ryan plays a big in the NHLPA and I respect what he does there. That’s pretty much it."

Coach Claude Julien said he saw the play the way Lucic did and added that it's not the first time an unfortunate soul got in front of the determined, though not exactly agile, skater.

"It certainly wasn't our plan to run him over, and for what it's worth, Looch has done the same thing to one of our coaches last year," said Julien. "He buries his head when he chases a puck and when he lifts it up, somebody's there. Last year it was a coach, this year it was Miller."...Source

In other Bruins news, Tyler Seguin has been named the NHL's First Star of the Week, for the week ending November 13th. In 3 games during the week, Seguin had 4 goals, 2 assists and was +4.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

I was away Saturday so I'm late with this post but here we go. Saturday night the Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres 6-2 and all the talk after has been about the Milan Lucic collision with Sabres goalie Ryan Miller. First let's get to the game summary.

In the first period, Bruins killer Thomas Vanek scored to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead. That was all of the scoring in the period, but we did have some rough stuff. Milan Lucic passed the puck to himself to far ahead to catch up to it and Ryan Miller went out of his net to the defensive zone faceoff dot and Lucic collided into him sending Miller down to the ice on his butt. Miller swung his stick at Lucic trying to slash him but failed. Everyone joined in a scrum but there was nothing to come of it. No one did squat to Lucic, including Paul Gaustad or the 6'8" Tyler Myers. Lucic and Miller exchanged some words after the scrum as Lucic headed to the penalty box. Yes Lucic did not try to get out of the way and with Miller way out of the net and Lucic skating hard he couldn't stop in time. It was a shoulder on shoulder hit and not a hit to the head. A few minutes later in the game Robyn Regehr had a chance to go with Lucic as they exchanged shoves but he wanted nothing to do with Lucic. This whole Sabres not sticking up for a fallen teammate reminds me of the soft Bruins back in 2007 when Sabres Adam Mair took out David Krejci with a cheap high hit which gave Krejci a concussion. Karma anyone?

Milan Lucic collides with Ryan Miller

In the second period, Rich Peverley scored his 4th goal of the season to make it 1-1. Later, Tyler Seguin scored his 10th goal of the season to make it 2-1. 16 seconds later Nathan Horton scored his 5th goal of the season to make it 3-1.

In the third period, Jhonas Enroth started in net for the Sabres. Chris Kelly scored his 4th goal of the season to make it 4-1. Tyler Seguin scored his 11th goal of the season, his 2nd of the game, to make it 5-1. Later, Brad Marchand scored his 5th goal of the season to make it 6-1. Later, Marc-Andre Gragnani scored a power-play goal for the Sabres making it 6-2.

With the game out of reach, Sabres moron Patrick Kaleta then decides to run around and try for big hits. Referees gave both Kaleta and Shawn Thornton 2 and 10-minute penalties to make sure they were off the ice for the rest of the game.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 35-23, faceoff wins 44-25 and hits 26-14. The Sabres led the game in blocked shots 14-11.

Tim Thomas played in net and made 21 saves on 23 shots. Thomas is now 6-4 with a 2.00 GAA and a .930 save percentage this season.

Patrice Bergeron finished the game with 1 assist, +3, going 16-4 in faceoffs.

Brad Marchand finished the game with 1 goal and 2 assists and was +3.

Tyler Seguin finished the game with 2 goals and 1 assist and was +3.

Andrew Ference did not play and Steven Kampfer took his place in the lineup. Pouliot was out and Hamill was in. Hamill was sent down to Providence (AHL) on Sunday.

Ryan Miller cries to media, wants his tires pumped, Shanny obliges
Sabres goalie Ryan Miller wasn't happy after the game and made sure to talk with the media and had some comments about Milan Lucic and the collision.

Ryan Miller on the collision with Milan Lucic:

"I just stuck around because I just wanted to say what a piece of [expletive] I think Lucic is," said Miller. "Fifty pounds on me, and he runs me like that? It's unbelievable. Everyone in this city sees him as a big, tough, solid player."

"I respected him for how hard he played. That was gutless. Gutless, piece of [expletive]."Source

Here's the video with Ryan Miller saying the above comments

Miller wants Lucic to be the best skater in the world and stop on a dime. But in reality Lucic is not the best skater in the world or in hockey and braced himself for contact and collided with Miller. The Sabres are one of the teams in the NHL that dive a lot and watch Miller after he is hit. He swings his goalie stick at Lucic, doesn't hit him, then lays back and down onto the ice. Then he sits up and gets up quickly and exchanges words with Lucic. What's with the laying down on the ice?

Milan Lucic on the collision with Ryan Miller:

"Well I blocked a shot, and it's a race for the puck," said Lucic. "I just put my head down and tried to get to it first. Next thing I looked up, he was out of his net and it was a collision."

"Obviously, going into the situation like that, I'm gonna brace myself. I was going full speed so it's pretty hard for me to put on the breaks."Source

With Miller complaining and crying to the media, and the Sabres announcing that Miller is out indefinitely with a concussion, well NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan is having a hearing with Lucic tomorrow at 1pm. Miller is not new to complaining to the media, he's getting to be an expert on it.

The Bruins and Sabres next play each other November 23rd in Buffalo and some are already saying Buffalo will try and get some revenge in that game. The only guy you have to watch out for on Buffalo is Kaleta as he likes taking cheap shots at anyone.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 8-7 this season and still in 4th place in the Northeast Division. The Bruins next game is on Tuesday, hosting the New Jersey Devils at 7pm ET.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Thursday night the Bruins beat the young hot Edmonton Oilers 6-3 and are now on a 4-game winning streak. Tuukka Rask played in net, his first back-to-back action of the season and got his 2nd win of the season. Rich Peverley again did not play and Zach Hamill got into the game and played well as he finished +2 with 1 assist and had 2 shots. Hamill played on a line with Chris Kelly and Jordan Caron.

Here's the scoring summary:

In the first period, Edmonton native Johnny Boychuk scored his 2nd goal of the season to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. 1:44 later Jordan Caron scored his 1st goal of the season, from a nice pass from Zach Hamill. The Oilers would score twice to tie the game 2-2.

In the second period, Brad Marchand scored his 3rd goal of the season. It was a power-play goal. Later Tyler Seguin scored his 9th goal of the season off a weird bounce to make it 4-2.

In the third period, Oilers Ryan Smyth scored his 2nd goal of the game to make it 4-3. Milan Lucic scored his 8th goal of the season, a power-play goal making it 5-3. Nice pass from Joe Corvo to Lucic for that goal. 44 seconds later, Marchand scored his 2nd goal of the game and 4th goal of the season making it 6-3 with a nice hard wrist shot that beat Devan Dubnyk.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in faceoff wins 34-25 and blocked shots 13-12. The Oilers led the game in shots 30-28 and hits 17-15. The Bruins went 2-for-5 on the power-play while the Oilers went 1-for-5.

Tuukka Rask made 27 saves on 30 shots and is now 2-3 with a 2.63 GAA and a .908 save percentage.

Defenseman Andrew Ference only played 9:22 in the game as he left in the second period and did not return. After the game Claude Julien said it's a lower-body injury.

"Only that it's a lower-body injury right now," Julien said. "I don't know the severity of it, so that's all I can give you."Source

Johnny Boychuk led the Bruins with 5 blocked shots.

Milan Lucic led the Bruins with 3 hits.

Joe Corvo finished the game with 3 assists, was +1 and had 1 shot.

Nathan Horton finished the game with 2 assists.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 7-7 this season, in 4th place in the Northeast Division ahead of Montreal (both are tied with 14 points but Montreal has played 1 more game). The Bruins next game is on Saturday taking on the Buffalo Sabres at 7pm ET in Boston.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Last night Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli announced that the Bruins have recalled forward Zach Hamill from Providence (AHL) o an emergency basis.

So Hamill may play in tonight's game against the Edmonton Oilers if Rich Peverley can't play or instead of playing Benoit Pouliot.

Through 14 AHL games this season, Hamill leads the P-Bruins in goals (5), points (10) and plus/minus (+2) and is second on the team in assists (5). Last season, Hamill spent the majority of the year in Providence and finished second on the team in scoring with 9-34=43 totals. He was recalled once to Boston from February 3 – 13, 2011 and tallied one assist in three NHL games.

Hamill has skated in four career NHL games with 0-2=2 totals. He made his NHL debut on April 11, 2010 against Washington and recorded his first career NHL assist/point in that game.

He was originally drafted by the Bruins in the first round (8th overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.Source

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

"Daniel Paille has been diagnosed with a broken nose and facial lacerations after the injury he sustained in our game Monday night. He will undergo surgery on Wednesday, November 9 at Mass General Hospital in Boston to repair the injury. Dr. Thomas Dodson will conduct the procedure. Following the surgery, he is expected to be listed as day-to-day."Source

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

BOSTON, MA - NOVEMBER 07: Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins stops a shot in the first period against the New York Islanders on November 7, 2011 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Tuukka Rask played in net against the New York Islanders and finally got some goal support as the Bruins beat the Islanders Monday night 6-2. With Rich Peverley out of the lineup with a minor undisclosed injury, Benoit Pouliot came in the lineup and played on the 3rd line. Pouliot managed to score a goal, really a freebie, but he didn't play well, and was benched for some time as he only got 8:39 of ice time. Pierre McGuire on Versus also pointed out one of Pouliot's defensive lapses and I don't remember seeing him on the ice after that. The first line of David Krejci-Milan Lucic-Nathan Horton looks to be returning to form as they combined for 8 points total.

Here's the game's scoring summary:

In the first period, Benoit Pouliot scored his 1st goal of the season to make it 1-0. Jordan Caron threw the puck at the net into Evgeni Nabokov's feet and Nabokov looked like he was trying to find the puck in his feet and Pouliot jammed the puck into the net. After the goal, Adam McQuaid squared off with Matt Martin in a spirited fight. After the fight McQuaid had a cut on his chin with some blood. It was good to see McQuaid drop the gloves and he looks like he is fully back. That fight gave the Islanders energy as later Matt Moulson would tie the game 1-1. Later in the period with the Bruins on the power-play, Nathan Horton picked up a rebound to the right of Nabokov and moved near the slot area and fired the puck past Nabokov to make it 2-1 Bruins. It was Horton's 3rd goal of the season. 29 seconds later Tyler Seguin scored his 8th goal of the season from a beautiful pass from Patrice Bergeron making it a 3-1 Bruins lead. Nabokov was pulled after the goal and Al Montoya came in to play in net. Michael Grabner would later score to make it a 3-2 game.

In the second period, no scoring happened. Montoya made some big saves in the period though.

In the third period, Milan Lucic scored his 7th goal of the season making it 4-2. 49 seconds later, Horton scored his 4th goal of the season and 2nd goal of the game making it 5-2. With less than three minutes in the game, the Islanders had pulled their goalie and David Krejci scored his 3rd goal of the season, an empty net goal to end the scoring.

Game notes
Scary moment in the third period as Daniel Paille took a puck in the face from a Steve Staios slap shot. Paille would go down and was hurt as blood was seen on the ice. He was able to get up and go to the dressing room. Bruins coach Claude Julien on Paille's condition:

“He’s going to be seen by a specialist tonight,” Julien said. Obviously a puck hit him in the face, and in the nose area. We’ll probably know more tomorrow, once he’s seen by a specialist.”Source

Another scary moment in the third period as Milan Lucic took a skate to his neck of the player he tripped up and luckily it only resulted in a small cut. Lucic was bleeding but he continued to play.

Congrats to Chris Kelly as he played in his 500th career NHL game Monday.

The Bruins led the game in shots 36-26, faceoff wins 29-20 and blocked shots 12-8. The Islanders led the game in hits 17-16. The Bruins went 1 for 1 on the power-play while the Islanders went 0 for 4.

Tuukka Rask made 24 saves on 26 shots and is now 1-3 with a 2.53 GAA and a .910 save percentage this season.

Nathan Horton finished the game with 2 goals and 1 assist, +1 and had 2 shots.

David Krejci finished the game with 1 goal and 2 assists, was +1 and had 4 shots.

Milan Lucic finished the game with 1 goal and 1 assist, was +1 and had 2 shots.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 6-7 with 12 points taking them out of last place in the Eastern Conference but still last in the Northeast Division. The Bruins next game is on Thursday hosting the hot Edmonton Oilers at 7pm ET. I'm sure the media will be coming up with all kinds of Tyler Seguin vs Taylor Hall stories until the game.